Static Hopf Solitons and Knotted Emergent Fields in Solid-State Noncentrosymmetric Magnetic Nanostructures

Two-dimensional topological solitons, commonly called Skyrmions, are extensively studied in solid-state magnetic nanostructures and promise many spintronics applications. However, three-dimensional topological solitons dubbed hopfions have not been demonstrated as stable spatially localized structures in solid-state magnetic materials. Here we model the existence of such static solitons with different Hopf index values in noncentrosymmetric solid magnetic nanostructures with a perpendicular interfacial magnetic anisotropy. We show how this surface anisotropy, along with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and the geometry of nanostructures, stabilize hopfions. We show knots in emergent field lines and computer simulate Lorentz transmission electron microscopy images of such solitonic configurations to guide their experimental discovery in magnetic solids.